Carlos Alcaraz reached his third straight quarterfinal at the Australian Open, defeating American Tommy Paul again in a Grand Slam tournament. The match, which was interrupted at one point due to a medical problem in the audience, ended in three sets in favor of the Spaniard 7:6 (7:6), 6:4, 7:5, BTA reported.
After defeating Paul in the quarterfinals of “Roland Garros“ last year and beat him in four sets at Wimbledon in 2024, the current ATP ranking leader achieved victory over the 19th seed in the afternoon sun on “Rod Laver Arena“.
The first set was interrupted for about 14 minutes at 3-3 in the tiebreak as medical staff attended to an injured spectator in the upper tiers of the stands. The elderly woman managed to get to her feet and was helped out of the stadium.
When play resumed, Paul double-faulted and lost the set, setting the tone for a match in which he squandered his hard work with momentary lapses.
A break of serve in each of the final two sets was all Alcaraz needed to win the match after giving Paul virtually nothing on his own serve. Alcaraz's next opponent will be clear after the end of the match between the representative of the hosts Alex de Minor, number 6, and Alexander Bublik – number 10.
The spectators and experts were impressed that Alcaraz changed the execution of the opening shot and on the one hand it is unusual for the opponents, but on the other hand it reminds a lot of that of Novak Djokovic. And the Serbian legend sent him a slightly supportive message on this occasion.
“I didn't know, really, that it was like Djokovic's serve. He even sent me a message: OK, but now you have to pay me for using me“, Alcaraz said and laughed. “I know I already have a contract for it, but I haven't seen it yet“, the Spaniard continued with a smile.
And on the match and Paul's resistance, which was really only in the first set, the favorite said: “He started quite strongly... I knew I would have my “chance“ and I think I did“. Overall it was a really high level of tennis on both sides, but I'm really happy to have won it in three sets“.